Cosby caught up in sex scandal

COMEDIAN Bill Cosby is at the centre of a sex scandal following allegations that he drugged and sexually molested a woman.

A United States federal judge denied a bid for a gag order in the lawsuit. He also denied a motion to keep secret the names of other women alleging similar assaults.

Attorneys for Cosby, 68, had sought the gag order and also asked the court to bar parties in the case from discussing any information disclosed during the discovery phase of the trial.

They also asked the judge to bar either side from disclosing the names of other women who might be called as witnesses to testify that they were also assaulted, saying they might be harmed by media exposure or overly zealous fans.

US District Judge Eduardo Robreno denied those motions on Thursday, but suspended for ten days the portion covering the potential female witnesses to allow them seek confidentiality on an individual basis.

The woman, a former employee of Temple University, Philadelphia, who now lives in her native Ontario, Canada, sued Cosby in March. She went to Canadian authorities on January 13 and alleged that about a year earlier, Cosby gave her three blue pills that left her semi-conscious, and then sexually molested her at his Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, home.

Montgomery County prosecutors examined the allegations but declined to file charges, citing insufficient evidence.

Cosby’s attorneys said he considered himself a friend and mentor to the woman. He denied the assault allegation but acknowledged giving her over-the-counter medication after she complained she was stressed and having trouble sleeping.

On the gag order, Judge Robreno said state rules of conduct already make attorneys’ out-of-court statements subject to sanction if they substantially prejudice the outcome of a case. And although he had said earlier that he wanted to avoid a “circus atmosphere”, he said media attention was not always harmful to the cause of justice.

“The lamp of public scrutiny shining brightly over the proceedings can assist the court in reaching a just result under the watchful eye of an informed public,” he said.

Judge Robreno also said the woman’s attorneys had not shown good enough reason to keep the identities of other accusers secret. He noted that the potential witnesses themselves had not sought that, although all but two have attorneys and one of the other two is an attorney herself.